


Ordinary Days

by Hinn_Raven



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU - Comicverse, Wonder Woman (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Bat Family, F/M, Family, Fix-It, Healing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 17:54:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/726141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hinn_Raven/pseuds/Hinn_Raven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s a zombified street-kid turned badass, and she’s a mythical warrior princess. Their lives are a little bit odd. Chore sharing and fighting crime and handling their extended friend group is all apart of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ordinary Days

_Donna looks down at a grave, numb. She’s always numb when she gets here._

_“You don’t have to go,” Dick says, wrapping an arm around her._

_She bows her head, clenching her eyes shut to hide the tears. She’s cried too much lately._

_“Yes I do,” she whispers._

* * *

 

Donna loves Europe. It has been far too long since she’s been here and even longer since she’s had a vacation. Even if this is more of an escape than a vacation, it’s still wonderful.

She’s in a small country town somewhere in Bosnia. She isn’t exactly sure where she is: it has been a while since she’s consulted a map. The whole point of this trip is to lose herself, after all. Just for a bit. Until she no longer feels so numb.

She has plenty of money. She has a bag, containing a few changes of clothes and some other necessities. She wears long sleeves all the time to conceal her bracelets, and her lasso she wears as a loose sash around her waist. And so far, only three young girls have recognized her as Troia, and she is pleased.

She sits at a table in an inn in the small town, waiting on the food she’s ordered in awful sounding Serbian. The door to the inn swings open, and Donna turns around to see who is entering, and freezes.

The figure is a young man, or possibly still a boy. His hair is coal black and shaggy; his eyes are piercing blue-green. He has a bruise on his jaw and a slightly dazed look on his face. He is tall and broad-shouldered; his clothes are tattered and dirty. Their eyes meet from across the room. Donna is on her feet, barely breathing. The name of an old dead friend makes its way past her lips. “Jason.”

He moves towards her, face desperately hopeful. “Donna?” His voice is deep now, and Donna is keenly aware of the dark circles under his eyes.

She pulls him into a hug, unable to believe what she is seeing. She has visited the grave. She has held Dick on anniversaries. But he is here, and most definitely _alive_. “How…”

Not now,” he whispers, clinging to her slightly. “Later. I promise.”

She looks at him, nods, and they sit down. “How long?” She has to ask, after ordering food for him too.

“Three days,” he mutters, head bent. “Sort of. It’s part of the story.”

“Does Bruce know?”

“No,” Jason jams his eyes shut. “He doesn’t.”

Donna sees him shaking, and grabs his hand until the food comes. They eat in silence, Donna still unsure if she is dreaming or not.

Afterwards, Donna pays for their food, and they leave together. They walk out of the village, and once they are out of sight she grabs him, pulling him into the air.

They land in a clearing. The grass is soft, the trees are huge, the sun is setting, and the colors are filtering into the clearing gently, bringing out the highlights in Jason’s hair in an odd way.

He sinks against a tree, bowing his head. Donna sits next to him, placing a hand on his knee.

“Talk to me.”

He does. It comes in long, angry rants and muttered, muted sentences. He tells her about Talia al Ghul and the Lazarus Pit with haunted eyes. He gives her what she suspects is a very abridged version of digging himself out of the grave and the years on the streets. He rants until he is in tears about how Bruce _replaced_ him. He speaks about the Joker, voice dripping with malice as he screams about how Bruce _let him live_.

By the time he’s done, his voice is hoarse and the stars are out.

Donna brushes the hair out of his face, and starts speaking. It’s her turn now.

She tells him about Dick’s breakdowns. About Bruce’s violent rage at the death of his son. She describes Tim Drake, and how he became Robin for Bruce’s sake. She tells him about the memorial in the Cave, and a regularly visited grave. The Joker in a full body-cast and Nightwing’s uncontrollable anger at the twisted man.

He seems calmer after that. He turns his eyes to her. “What about you?”

She swallows. Then she speaks again. She tells him about Terry, about Robert, about the Titans of Tomorrow. She cries and he ends up holding her somehow. They end up lying on their backs in the middle of the clearing, holding each other as they stare up at the stars and talk about their childhood memories of stars.

“Donna?” He says hesitantly after she’s told him the story of her mother and Orion. She rolls onto her side to face him. The moonlight makes his hair look almost silver.

“Yes Jason?”

“Thank you.” They stare into each other’s eyes.

Later, neither of them are able to say who moved first. Maybe he does, leaning slowly forwards without realizing what he is doing. Maybe she does, reaching for him and pulling him close. Maybe they move at the same time, meeting in the middle. But their lips meet, slowly and cautiously, both unsure. Both afraid that the other will pull away. Her hand moves to his neck, curling her fingers through the tufts of hair. His hands cup her face. They slowly deepen the kiss as they realize they both want to. It’s been far too long since either of them has kissed someone.

Finally, too soon, they part, panting for breath just a little.

Donna gets to her feet, pulling him up with her. “Come on,” she says, smiling at him tentatively. “We should get some sleep. We’ll figure everything else out tomorrow.”

* * *

 

They board a plane in Madrid, bound for Gotham. No one knows they are coming, and it’s making Jason a nervous wreck. She holds his hand tightly the whole way.

They arrive at the Manor at noon. Jason says Bruce will probably be awake by then. Donna sends Cassie some messages and learns that Tim was with Young Justice and won’t be home for a week. A similar question to Babs reveals that Dick is in Bludhaven, at work. Bruce, however, is home, as is Alfred.

Jason knocks on the door, pale as a sheet. After what feels like an eternity, the door is opened, revealing Alfred.

The old butler freezes at the sight of him. All the color drains from his face.

“Hi Alfred,” Jason says, giving him a small, nervous smile.

“Master Jason…” the older man breaths. Suddenly, Jason is pulled into a hug by the man. It doesn’t last very long, but Donna does her best not to watch the intensely private moment.

“It’s good to see you again, sir,” Alfred says, smiling.

“You too, Alfred,” Jason says, eyes just a little wet. “Is… is Bruce home?”

“He is indeed.” Jason’s face lit up. “Shall we?” Alfred gestured them into the house.

Bruce is in the study. He’s working on paperwork when they walk in, although he clearly knows someone’s there.

“Bruce,” Jason says quietly after a moment of just standing there. Bruce’s head snaps up, eyes going wide.

“Jason…” Bruce whispers, eyes overbright with tears. He stands up, and moves out from behind his desk. He slowly approaches Jason, as though afraid of scaring him away—or that he would disappear if he moved too fast.

Jason has none of that. He tackles his father in a full-on hug.

They cling to each other like life-lines, afraid to let go, both of them shaking ever-so-slightly.

Donna smiles. Alfred places a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for finding him,” he says softly.

* * *

 

The reunion with Dick is just as emotional—and several times as snotty (Dick Grayson is many things, but a clean crier he is not—as the reunion with Bruce. Jason spends three months at the Manor. He meets Tim and their meeting, despite the fears of all involved, does not involve injuries or hurt feelings. He complains about the kid getting to wear pants for ages, but besides that, it’s pretty good.

Donna leaves after a week, unsure of her place in Gotham. She wanders around for a bit, and finds herself in New York City.

Without really understanding why, Donna finds an apartment, and puts down the deposit without thinking.

She looks at the skylight, which is perfect for entering and exiting the apartment if one could fly—or use a grappling hook and have several years of training.

She calls Jason the next day. She talks to him about how he’s been, and how he’s handling it. He admits he isn’t sure of himself anymore. He talks about how Bruce is being stifling, and he doesn’t feel at _home_ in Gotham anymore.

Without even thinking, once again, Donna tells him about the apartment. About the skylight and the lack of a permanent hero in New York City. She tells him she’s thinking about moving there permanently.

With her very next breath, she invites him to move in with her.

She hears his breath catch over the phone. They haven’t discussed what they are to each other. They’ve kissed quite a bit, sure, but they haven’t talked about it.

He asks her if she’s sure. She replies affirmatively.

He shows up three days later, with three duffel bags full of stuff. Donna gets texts from Dick that read “YOU AND JASON ARE DATING?!?!?”

Donna laughs, and helps Jason unpack.

* * *

 

Life in New York is odd. Donna gets a job and enrolls in college. Jason works on his GED and unpacks the apartment.

The apartment is small, but Donna thinks of it as cozy. It only has one bedroom, a bathroom and a living room/kitchen crossover, but the rent is cheap and the locks are good, and it’s all Donna can really ask for. They spend a weekend painting the walls bright colors and they buy rugs to cover the worst blemishes on the floors. They buy a TV, a stove, a fridge and a bed, using Jason’s trust fund to appease Bruce.

The weekend Dick comes to visit, he helps them fix the leaky faucet and put up curtains, which lighten the apartment considerably. Tim comes by after school, and the four of them curl up on the couch, watch _The Princess Bride_ and eat the tacos Jason made.

Tim and Dick visit often, helping Jason create his new identity as Red Robin. They design a costume and weapons and when it’s all ready, Red Robin and Troia start to patrol New York City together.

They fight muggers and rapists and try to win over the police. They endear themselves to the public and start to gain people’s trust.

Donna grabs Jason and pulls him into the air, laughing as he yelps in surprise. They both love flying. It’s one of their favorite things to do together in the city.

Donna sets him down on the top of the Empire State Building and kisses him gently, her feet still not touching the ground.

Life is pretty good. She loves Jason, he loves her, they’re helping people and they are happy.

But of course, there are the bad days.

There are the days when stress builds up from grades or work and they fight over nothing. Or stupid things like dishes and vacuuming. They shout and argue, but when it’s all over they laugh and laugh, and they revel together in how domestic they are.

And then there are the worst days. The nights when Jason wakes up screaming, convinced he’s still in the coffin or the warehouse or even the Pit. Some nights Donna can calm him down, silencing him with soothing words and kisses, but other nights he is too caught up in the memory and the pain, and all Donna can do is hold him and hope that he remembers where he is soon enough.

The days that follow those nights are bad. He jumps at noises; he hits the bad guys harder than he needs to. Elevators, never easy for him to begin with, absolutely terrify him, and he gravitates to high places. And if Donna—or anyone—gets hurt on those days, he lashes out, first at the person who hurt them, then at the person who was injured. Jason knows how to make words hurt, and Donna is half-afraid to ask where he learned it.

The fights on those days are bad. Anger and bitterness well up and come out, and the rage and _pain_ he shows on those days makes it hard to look at him.

But Donna has her bad days too. Days when she misses her son so much that it makes it hard to leave the bed. Days when she’s reminded that for all his training, Jason is just a human, with bones that break and skin that bleeds.

One day Jason gets shot while on patrol. It’s not very bad, but Donna yells at him about being more careful. They fight for hours after that, about how she doesn’t have to baby him and he knows how to handle himself, but how he’s going to get himself killed. He accuses her of not trusting him, just like Bruce, and she snaps at him about how he doesn’t even talk to Bruce, hasn’t since they left the Manor. He storms off after that, and she doesn’t know where he goes.

She can’t stand it anymore. She packs her bags and leaves for Thymiscra to be with her family again. She’s gone before, but somehow she suspects this time is different.

She stays for a week, training and spending time with the new Wonder Girl, who has great potential. She spars with Diana and talks long hours with her mother. She also misses Jason so much that it hurts.

She returns to the apartment, ready with apologies, but she finds the apartment empty. There’s a note on the fridge, scrawled in Dick’s handwriting. _Gotham_.

She goes to the Manor, and they talk.

“I’m sorry,” she says to him. “I know you can handle yourself.”

“I don’t do it well enough though,” he says, looking down. “You were right; I was careless.”

“We’ll get better,” she offers.

He shakes his head. “I don’t think… I don’t think I can. You know how bad I get. I’m too broken, Donna.” His voice breaks, and there are tears in his eyes. “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

She lifts his head to look him in the eye. “I’m broken too,” she tells him. “We’ll manage.” Then she kisses him, and they go back to the apartment and the city.

Things get better. Slowly, but surely, they get better. Jason goes to therapy and they work on the flashbacks. Donna gets better at pulling him out of her nightmares. He works on his anger and lashing out, and he starts spending time with Bruce again. He learns how to get her out of bed on her bad days, what things to say and what food to make to tempt her. The awful days start to dwindle away.

And at night they cling to each other, through the nightmares and the memories and the things they’ve lost, and they heal.

Roy comes over, with Lian in his arms, and Donna learns how good Jason is with kids. She laughs when five-almost-six Lian gets her finger-paints on both the walls and Jason’s shirt, and deliberately waits a month before painting over it.

They celebrate their anniversary by going to the Manor again. They spend the day with Bruce and Alfred, and then they return to New York for patrol.

Garth and Wally show up on their doorstep, and the two prove that, although they might be older than the two boys she founded the Titans with, they were still the same. They leave with the kitchen a mess from the food fight, smiles, and a promise to bring Linda and Tula with them next time.

Jason gets his GED, and he enrolls in the same college as her. The two of them immerse themselves in that life for a while. Parties and majors and classes become their lives, and they love it. Jason gets kicked out of ethics class for arguing with the professor. Donna choses to double major in International Relations and English Literature. Jason enrolls in the Pre-Med program, commenting about Doctor Leslie. They make friends and go on dates and life is good.

Donna’s birthday passes, and Jason sends her flowers at work and conspires with a bunch of their friends to throw her a surprise party that almost ends up with her throwing Dick out a window.

Kori shows up one day, full of smiles and stories. Donna hasn’t seen her in eighteen months, and she is delighted to see her best friend again. Donna shows her New York, and Jason calls Tim to save him from “estrogen overload”. Donna punches his shoulder for that, but she is still so glad that he’s getting along with Tim that she lets it slide.

Tim tells them horror stories about Bruce’s new son Damian, who is either a monster or a troubled kid, depending on if they place more stock in Tim or Dick’s versions of the stories.

Donna laughs and Jason ruffles Tim’s hair, offering their couch. Donna reminds him that Kori has the couch currently, laughing. Tim groans and complains, claiming that if the “demon child” kills him in his sleep that he will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Kori leaves three days later, returning to the Tower, and Tim appears immediately after, sporting a brand new bruise and begging for help with Damian. The three of them go to Gotham, Donna and Jason a bit apprehensive about what they will find.

Damian is clearly a little messed up, Donna admits. But he clearly worships his father and adores Dick (although he tries to hide it), and after Jason leaves him dangling from the ceiling by his ankle, he learns to respect Jason, albeit begrudgingly.

They spend a week in the Manor. Donna works with the Birds of Prey and the new Batgirl, and meets Robin’s girlfriend Spoiler, who manages to convince her to give her a few fighting lessons. Jason patrols Tim and meets Cassandra, who he gets along with pretty well.

They leave a little reluctantly, but with promises to visit and to have team-ups in the near future.

(Stephanie and Cassandra start visiting New York on a regular basis soon afterwards.)

They buy a house, a little reluctantly, but it has two spare bedrooms and more space, and with the amount of time that somebody is staying over, they really need the extra room. Dick, Wally, Garth, Roy, Kori, Vic, Garth, and even _Raven_ show up to help them move in. They eat pizza and have a paint war, but eventually they unpack every box in the house, and the walls are the colors they are supposed to be.

Dick and Wally crash in one room, Roy takes the couch (Lian is with Dinah for the weekend), and Kori claims the other bedroom. Gar and Raven leave together a little early, holding hands, and Vic follows them before they all go to bed, stating that someone needs to watch the Tower.

A week later, the last guest (Dick) leaves, and the two of them start to create their new lives. They work out routines with relative ease, (Jason cooks, she does dishes, he does laundry, she vacuums and mops.) They set up a weight room and they spar every night. They go to Wal-Mart and stock up on cheap DVDs for their date nights, and investigate second-hand bookstores for things to fill their shelves.

They celebrate his birthday with a Broadway show and eating out. Their second anniversary is spent cooking a fancy dinner at home. Jason calls Alfred for help, and between the three of them they have a veritable feast to eat.

Donna graduates, and the Titans, Young Justice, and a good portion of the Justice League come to the ceremony. The party is at the Manor, and Donna smiles so much it almost hurts.

And then Dick shocks the whole room by high jacking the microphone and yelling “Barbara Gordon!”

The room falls quiet. Someone (Donna suddenly notices Jason’s absence and is very suspicious) lowers the lights and shines two spotlights, one on Dick, who is standing on a small platform, eyes alight with nervousness, and the other on Babs. Babs is frozen, caught in the spotlight. Her fingers clutch at the wheels of her chair, as if preparing to make a breakaway.

Dick gets off the stage, microphone left behind. It doesn’t matter though—the ballroom is so quiet that people other than Clark can hear hearts beating. Dick’s wearing a suit—not the powdery blue one this time, much to Donna’s relief. He looks terrified, but hides it well. He gets onto one knee in front of Barbara.

“Babs,” he says, voice carrying well. “I love you. I promise that I always will. Will you,” he reaches into the pocket of his suit and pulls out a small box, “Marry me?”

Slowly, softly, Babs nods, whispering, “I would love nothing more, you big idiot.”

Dick beams; his face lighting up. He slides the ring onto her finger before nearly knocking her over as he kisses her. Cheers fill the room, led by Donna and the other founding Titans. Tim snaps a picture, dangling from the ceiling where he’d been hiding. Bruce whips out the champagne, and regrets it when he has to spend the rest of the night keeping Damian away from it.

Jason grins at her, emerging at her side. She scolds him for not telling her, laughing. Tim drops down from the ceiling and eagerly gestures over his friends. He introduces Jason to Superboy, Impulse, Arrowette, and Wonder Girl, commenting that Secret couldn’t make it. Donna and Cassie chat, while Jason tries to keep up with Bart’s rapid fire questions about being dead, while Cissie tries to run interference. Conner tries to sneak off to talk to Cassandra, but Bruce catches him and returns him to the group with a glare. Donna gets Cass to come to them instead, and Conner grins at her brightly.

Then there are wedding plans to make and suits to be measured for (Donna and Jason are both grooms-people, much to their amusement), cakes to find, buildings to book, a furious Damian to calm down when he learns most ring-bearers are much younger than he is, and flowers to arrange.

Donna goes to both the bachelor and bachelorette party (no strippers at either one, much to her relief) and puts up with both Dick and Barbara’s panic attacks.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Jason tells her. “Those two are insane.”

“It’s sweet,” she tells him. “They really want this to be perfect.” He laughs, and kisses her.

The wedding occurs six months after the proposal. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Babs is radiant as she wheels down the aisle, wearing a gorgeous white dress. James Gordon holds her hand as they go down side-by-side, looking like the proudest man alive. Dick is handsome in his suit, beaming ear-to-ear as he looks at the woman he loves coming to marry him. Lian is the cutest flower girl possible, and she dumps her leftover rose petals on Damian when he tugs her braid. Donna shamelessly admires Jason in his suit, and keeps a careful eye out for supervillains.

The ceremony is beautiful. The minister gives a speech about love and overcoming great obstacles. The vows make several people in the crowd tear up, although none of the manly superheroes will ever admit it. Zatanna makes rose petals fall from the ceiling after the “I dos”. And the crowd cheers when the groom bends over and kisses the bride gently.

The reception is lovely as well. The cake is a gigantic creation, enough to support the three speedsters (Donna still hasn’t quite been able to come to terms with the idea of Wally as a _father_ ) and almost a hundred superheroes. Wally gives a long speech about his best friend is actually married at last, and demands that Roy pay up for some obscure bet they made years ago. Garth says a traditional Atlantean blessing that only the other Atlanteans understand, because whoever says Atlantean sounds like Greek needs to be slapped, because Donna understood maybe three of the words. Roy cracks some jokes, but also says some things about love and identity that are surprisingly touching. Kori wishes them happiness with a genuine smile on her face. Jason tells an embarrassing story about Dick and his third patrol together, and finishes it off with complimenting Barbara for ending up with “one of two men confident enough to wear those fish-scale panties” which makes Donna and Babs both face palm and several men in the crowd protest.

The dancing begins with Bruce and Cass leading the Father-Daughter dance on request of Babs, who holds her father’s hand for the duration of the dance.

The dancing takes up the rest of the night. Damian asks Lian to dance after much prompting on the part of Dick, much to the delight of everybody but Roy, who steams as Garth and Mia hold him back. Selina and Bruce have a dance-off with Clark and Lois, laughing and spinning and constantly accusing the other couple of cheating. Wally and his daughter Irey perform a high-speed version of the tango, with lots of giggling. Steph and Tim get the band to play something just so they can dance a certain way, and Tim only trips twice. Dinah and Ollie perform a high-speed dance with lots of spinning and dipping that Donna can’t name, but is probably really well known. Dick, after much prompting from Babs, goes and dances with Cass. It’s some crazy acrobatic routine that seems to involve using each other in order to flip into the air a lot and somersaults and back-springs feature heavily, and Donna wonders why gravity does not seem to apply to those two.

Finally, Jason asks her to dance. It’s a slow one, a nice gentle waltz. Donna remembers learning how to waltz from Dick, many years ago, and she smiles. They sway slightly as they move, and she rests her head on Jason’s shoulder, savoring the moment.

Suddenly, abruptly, Jason pulls away. “What are you…?” She starts to ask, confused.

The room falls silent as he goes down on one knee, pulling a silver band that gleams with a single diamond out of his pocket. “Hate to steal Dick’s big night,” he says, eyes twinkling, “But Donna, will you marry me?”

She doesn’t answer, just grabs him by the lapels of his suit jacket and pulls him up for a kiss. There’s a fumble with their hands, and he slides the ring onto her finger, laughing against her lips as their feet leave the ground. She hears Roy, Wally and Garth catcalling in the distance, along with cheers and squealing, which is really only to be expected. She remembers, suddenly, catching a bouquet earlier that night, and wonders if Barbara was in on the plan, because the former Batgirl’s aim is famously impeccable. She ignores all of that, and focuses on the pure happiness that is exploding inside her at the moment.

It isn’t the end of their story, and it certainly isn’t happily ever after. There are fights and bad days to come. There is Jason’s next meeting with the Joker to deal with. A job offer in DC that she nearly takes. A wedding to plan. An inter-dimensional crisis to handle. Near death experiences. The fight about whether or not their daughters Catherine and Martha Troy will be raised as Amazons.

But, for superheroes, it’s probably the closest they can get.

Because, as Jason loves to say, he’s a zombified street-kid turned badass, and she’s a mythical warrior princess. Their lives are a little bit odd. 


End file.
